🎯 Paid Search Advertising: Budgets & Performance

The Lemonade Stand Story

Imagine you have a lemonade stand. You have $10 to spend today to bring customers. How do you spend it wisely so you sell the most lemonade?

That’s exactly what Paid Search Advertising is about!

🎪 Part 1: Google Ads Bidding Strategies

What is Bidding?

Think of Google Ads like an auction. When someone searches “best lemonade near me,” businesses raise their hands and say:

“I’ll pay $1 to show my ad!” “I’ll pay $2!”

The highest bidders get the best spots. But here’s the twist—you don’t always pay your full bid!

The Smart Bidding Menu

Google gives you different ways to bid. It’s like choosing how to play a game:

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│     🎮 BIDDING STRATEGIES           │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 🎯 Manual CPC                       │
│    → YOU set each bid               │
│    → Full control                   │
│                                     │
│ 🤖 Maximize Clicks                  │
│    → Google gets most clicks        │
│    → Set budget, relax              │
│                                     │
│ 💰 Maximize Conversions             │
│    → Google chases sales            │
│    → Best for selling stuff         │
│                                     │
│ 🎪 Target CPA                       │
│    → You say: "I want each sale     │
│      to cost me $10"                │
│    → Google tries to hit it         │
│                                     │
│ 📈 Target ROAS                      │
│    → You say: "For every $1 spent,  │
│      I want $4 back"                │
│    → Google optimizes for that      │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Real Examples

Manual CPC Example:

• You sell shoes for $100
• You decide: “I’ll pay max $2 per click”
• You control every keyword’s bid

Target CPA Example:

• You want each shoe sale to cost you $20 in ads
• You tell Google: “Target CPA = $20”
• Google adjusts bids automatically to hit that target

Target ROAS Example:

• You spend $100 on ads
• You want $500 in sales back (5x return)
• Target ROAS = 500%
• Google bids higher for searches that lead to big purchases

💼 Part 2: Campaign Budget Management

Your Ad Wallet

Your campaign budget is like your daily allowance. You tell Google:

“I’ll spend up to $50 per day on this campaign.”

How Google Spends Your Money

graph TD
    A[Daily Budget: $50] --> B{Busy Day?}
    B -->|Yes| C[Google might spend $60]
    B -->|No| D[Google might spend $40]
    C --> E[Monthly Average = $50/day]
    D --> E

Important Rule: Google can spend up to 2x your daily budget on busy days, but it balances out over the month!

Budget Types

The Smart Budget Formula

Perfect Daily Budget =
(Monthly Ad Spend Goal) ÷ 30.4 days

Example:

• You want to spend $1,000 this month
• Daily budget = $1,000 ÷ 30.4 = $33/day

Budget Pacing

Google spreads your budget throughout the day:

Morning: ████░░░░░░ 30%
Midday:  ██████░░░░ 50%  ← Peak traffic!
Evening: ██████████ 100% Budget used

You can choose:

• Standard → Even spread (safe choice)
• Accelerated → Spend fast, run out early (risky)

📊 Part 3: Conversion Tracking Setup

What’s a Conversion?

A conversion is when someone does what you want:

• 🛒 Buys your product
• 📧 Signs up for newsletter
• 📞 Calls your business
• 📥 Downloads your app

Why Track Conversions?

Without tracking, it’s like:

Throwing darts blindfolded and never seeing where they land!

With tracking:

You see exactly which ads make money! 💰

How to Set It Up

graph TD
    A[Create Conversion Action in Google Ads] --> B[Get Tracking Code]
    B --> C[Add Code to Website]
    C --> D[Test the Tracking]
    D --> E[See Data in Reports!]

Step-by-Step

Step 1: Create Conversion Action

• Go to Google Ads → Tools → Conversions
• Click “+ New Conversion Action”
• Choose type: Website, App, Phone, or Import

Step 2: Get Your Tracking Code

Google gives you a special code snippet:

<!-- Google Tag -->
<script async
  src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/
  gtag/js?id=AW-123456789">
</script>
<script>
  gtag('config', 'AW-123456789');
  gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC123'
  });
</script>

Step 3: Place the Code

• Put it on your “Thank You” page
• Or use Google Tag Manager (easier!)

Step 4: Test It

• Use Google Tag Assistant
• Make a test purchase
• Check if conversion appears in Google Ads

Conversion Value

Tell Google how much each conversion is worth:

🔍 Part 4: Attribution Models

The Mystery of “Who Gets Credit?”

Imagine a customer’s journey:

Day 1: Sees your Facebook ad ──→ Clicks, leaves
Day 3: Searches "shoes" ──→ Sees your Google ad, clicks
Day 5: Types your website directly ──→ BUYS!

Question: Which ad made the sale?

Attribution models answer this question!

The 6 Attribution Models

Think of attribution like splitting a pizza among friends who helped you win a game:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  🎯 LAST CLICK                           │
│  Last touchpoint gets ALL credit         │
│  Pizza: 🍕🍕🍕🍕 → Final helper          │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  🏁 FIRST CLICK                          │
│  First touchpoint gets ALL credit        │
│  Pizza: 🍕🍕🍕🍕 → First helper          │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  📏 LINEAR                               │
│  Everyone gets EQUAL credit              │
│  Pizza: 🍕 → 🍕 → 🍕 → 🍕                │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ⏰ TIME DECAY                           │
│  Closer to purchase = MORE credit        │
│  Pizza: 🍕 → 🍕🍕 → 🍕🍕🍕               │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  📍 POSITION-BASED                       │
│  First & Last get 40% each               │
│  Middle gets 20% split                   │
│  Pizza: 🍕🍕 → 🍕 → 🍕🍕                  │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  🤖 DATA-DRIVEN                          │
│  Google's AI figures it out!             │
│  Pizza: Based on actual impact           │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘

Which Model Should You Use?

Real Example

Customer journey for $100 purchase:

Search Ad → Display Ad → Shopping Ad → Purchase

Credit Distribution:

🎓 Putting It All Together

Here’s how everything connects:

graph TD
    A[Set Your Budget] --> B[Choose Bidding Strategy]
    B --> C[Create Ads]
    C --> D[Set Up Conversion Tracking]
    D --> E[Choose Attribution Model]
    E --> F[Measure Performance]
    F --> G[Optimize & Improve!]
    G --> A

The Success Formula

Success =
  Right Budget
  + Smart Bidding
  + Tracking Everything
  + Fair Attribution

Quick Recap

🚀 You’re Ready!

Now you understand:

✅ How to bid smartly on Google Ads ✅ How to manage your advertising budget ✅ How to track what’s working ✅ How to give credit where it’s due

Go make those ads work for you! 🎯